" It is often supposed that, apart from their 'extraordinary powers of memory', expert players have phenomenal powers of calculation. The beginner believes that experts can calculate dozens of moves ahead and he will lose to them only because he cannot calculate ahead so far. Yet this is utter nonsense. From my own experience I can say that grandmasters do not do an inordinate amount of calculating. Tests (notably de Groot's experiments) supports me in this claim.
Quotes
(after 1 d4, Nf6; 2 c4, g6; 3 Nf3, Bg7; 4 g3, O-O; 5 Bg2, d6; 6 O-O, c5; 7 Nc3, Nc6; 8 d5, Na5) "Many are of the opinion that the Knight on QR4(a5) does not participate fully in the struggle, while others hold that, on the contrary, in view of Black's coming Q-side pawn advance and pressure against White's QB4(c4), his position is quite satisfactory. These debates are futile. The important thing is to see clearly what is positive and what is negative in the position of the Knight, and act accordingly when choosing a strategic plan." |
MAROVIC and SUSIC |